I'm L : The Story of L's Childhood
by Killjoy Whatsername
Summary: Some parts of this story is based on the song "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance. L Lawliet remembers his most precious memory and how he got the name "L."
1. Chapter 1: I'm L

It was a windy autumn day in London. I could see the leaves in shades of red and yellow being drifted away by the breeze. I was about six years old. I clutched the hand of a tall man who stood beside me. Then, I heard the music start. It was the sound of a marching band. My face lit up with joy and amusement as I looked up and smiled to the man next to me.

"See, Elle. Daddy told you he would take you out someday." he smiled back.

We watched the parade until the music started fading away. The band was getting farther and farther away from us, until they disappeared, as if they no longer existed.

"Well, I guess it's time to go." said the man next to me. This man was no other than Detective John Lawliet. A man of justice, my role model, my father.

"There's another place I would like to visit." I told him.

"Where is that?" he asked.

"I'll show you." I replied and pointed to the north. I showed him the way, pointing to turns in the road, being the navigator telling people where to go. We finally stopped at a small, quaint flower shop run by a nice old woman.

"The flower shop? What could you possibly want here, my boy?" he asked, confused.

I answered "Flowers... for Mum."

He just said "Oh."

"Don't you think she misses us, Daddy? We haven't visited her in a while. She might get lonely." Although I was a prodigy, whose intellect surpasses that of any other six year old and even some adults, I was just a child, young and naive.

"Don't worry, Elle. She won't get lonely. She's already gone. She's watching us right now, from Heaven."

"But don't you think she would like it if she saw us buying her flowers and visiting her grave, from Heaven?" I pouted.

"She would appreciate it." He said, sounding a bit lonely.

We entered the shop and my father bought a small bouquet of daisies and roses. It was an unusual combination, but they were my mother's favorites.

Our house was just a short walk from the shop, walking to the cemetery would take much longer. We could always drive there, since we had a car at home, but my father never drove to the cemetery. Not very long ago from that time, my mother died in a car crash. It hurts my father to take a car while visiting her. Although I was still very young, I understood his feelings. And so, we walked to the eerie graveyard where Mum was buried. That place never scared me, or creeped me out, but I found it rather depressing.

I stood before my mother's grave as I carefully set down the flowers. My memory about the rest of that day was all blurry.

It was strange how I had no memories prior to that day. It was my most precious memory. Exactly two years after that very day, my father was fatally injured in a shootout. I remember standing next to him, in his hospital bed. He said "Son, when you grow up, will you be the savior of the broken, the beaten, and the damned."

I said "Yes." and I watched him as his life faded away. I felt the tears roll down my cheeks, my eyes were sore from all the crying. Even if I knew that tears would never bring him back. I was alone. I was afraid. I had no other family, I didn't know what was going to happen to me after that. Miraculously, on that same day, Watari found me. He was a kind, old inventor who ran an orphanage in Winchester, England. His real name was Quillish Wammy, he was the one who took care of me from that day, on.

Watari and I took the train to Winchester on a cold winter day. Snow was falling slowly, and I liked it. The orphanage, Wammy's House, looked like a mansion and was surrounded by an iron fence. I squeezed Watari's hand before we walked through its welcoming gates and into the big, wooden doors. I saw that the interior looked as beautiful as it did outside. There were stained glass windows and there was a nice fireplace to keep us warm. I took off my mittens and went by the fire to warm up. After I settled down a bit, Watari asked me for my name. I was unable to speak for the entire day, due to some kind of psychological trauma from the death of my parents. I had no other feelings or evidence of trauma after they died, I moved on quickly and felt nothing. It was only the tears that followed their deaths and my inability of speech for a day, nothing else. I couldn't speak and I had nothing to write with, so instead of saying my name, I used every letter of the sign language alphabet that I knew. Back then, I didn't know sign language, just three letters of it. Three letters wasn't enough to spell my name, but it was just enough to say it. I lifted my right hand and put my pinky up. "I." Then, I put my thumb under three fingers. "M." Lastly, I made a symbol that clearly says "L."

I-M-L. I am Elle. I'm L.

He understood what I was trying to say.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, L." said Watari.


	2. Chapter 2: A

I knew right at that very second that I was in Heaven. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking...and delicious. The mountains were ice cream, the trees were lollipops, and there was even a five-foot-tall slice of strawberry shortcake. I was in my own little world where I could do anything. I was frolicking in the garden of colorful, assorted desserts when I was struck by a sudden realization. I was still alive.

Reality pulled me out of my marvelous dream world, but there was nothing I could do about it. We all wake up eventually. I looked around and no longer saw the amazing world of sweets, but the dull-colored wallpaper of my room and an unoccupied bed that was identical to mine. Dreaming, one of the many things I missed about my childhood, back when I was still able to sleep. I never again visited my dream world. I got up from my bed and walked towards the other side of my room, where there was a mirror on the wall. I stared at the boy in the reflection. He had the same spiky, black hair, the same dark eyes, the exact same face. I knew that the reflection was my own, yet I didn't see the same old Elle Lawliet I knew. The boy in the mirror and I yawned in unison as I heard a soft knock on my door. This was my eleventh month as "L." Time has gone by so fast, it was just late December of last year when I first entered the gates of Wammy's House. I opened the door and saw Watari's polite face smiling at me.

"Good morning, L." he greeted.

"Good morning, Mister Wammy. Is there anything you want with me today?"

"You said that today is your birthday, so I came to tell you that I have a little present waiting for you downstairs."

I really was another year older. Another year smarter. To be more precise, it was actually another five years worth intelligence of what would be gained from normal school. Wammy's House was special. I didn't go to school. Watari became my teacher ever since he discovered my intellectual talent. It really has been almost a year. Watari remembered. I thought that nobody else will remember the day I was born since I had no family. But I knew that Watari is my new family, and Wammy's House is my new home.

••••••••••••••

I rushed downstairs in excitement. I wondered what my surprise birthday present was. I hoped that it would be something sweet, like in my dream.

"Mister Wammy, I'm here!" I said excitedly.

"L. There you are. Are you ready for your present?" Watari asked. I looked him in the eyes and nodded. He gave me a box wrapped in colorful paper and before I opened it, he interrupted me.

"Hold on, L. I would like you to meet someone." he said as a little boy, who was about a year younger than I was, waved shyly. I didn't really have the best social skills, nor do I have any friends. Watari never personally introduced me to any other children in the orphanage, so I guess that boy was special. So, I decided it was better for me to meet him.

"L, this is Aroll Jameson. The House's newcomer." There had to be a reason why he introduced me, of all people, to the new kid. Watari looked at him and then at me. "He's a prodigy just like you." Of course. Another prodigy. That's what I expected from a man like Watari. He was treating the other kid like he was an invention. Watari was probably training him so he could have more of me. Aroll looked at me and said "H-hello." while his face flushed bright pink. Will antisocial and ridiculously shy make a good combination? "Hi there. I'm L." I said, offering my hand for a friendly handshake, without looking at him. He reluctantly shook my hand and muttered "I-I'm Aroll. Call me 'A'."

••••••••••••••••••

"D-do I have to do this?" A mumbled nervously. He had curly, blond, mid-length hair and huge, blue eyes. He also had a strange aura. A was wearing a polar bear costume and he wore his glasses almost at the tip of his nose. I was dressed as a vampire, which he said suited me for some reason.

"Well, October 31st is All Hallows Eve. I'm really looking forward to get lots of candy after we go trick-or-treating." I said while biting my thumb, I would have told him "October 31st is also my birthday, and I want my treats so hurry up and do this with me." but I kept quiet.

Halloween was my favorite holiday. I just love going door-to-door and have strangers fill up my bag with all sorts of candy for me to snack on. Although I was the antisocial one, A couldn't handle making contact with another human being. He was so shy that he never talked on the phone. He hated phones but he said that he liked writing letters, since there wasn't a voice on the other side that could be heard. The only people he ever talked to were me and Watari. He even had a phobia of fish! He couldn't stand the presence of a live fish the way he couldn't stand socializing. Ironically, he liked to eat fish. A was a strange kid, so was I. It was nice to have someone who is like me by my side...like a friend.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Author's note: This was originally supposed to be a one-shot but I continued anyway. I know that L said that Light was his first friend... But you'll find out why he never mentioned A if I have the motivation to continue the next chapter. I don't know why but I made A's physical appearance very similar to Canada from Hetalia.


	3. Chapter 3: Under Pressure

H-hello. My name is A, and I'm going to tell you the story a bit differently. It won't go in order, there's going to be skipping back and ahead of time. S-so this time we're skipping to about a decade later, when my friend, L, is already out there being the world's greatest detective and Wammy's House had gone through a lot of changes. The rest of my batch all moved out and I stayed behind. Then, the House took in another generation of orphans, all of them were child prodigies like L and I. But at first, there were only three of us. L, myself, and a child known as B. "B" stood for "Backup." he was MY backup and we were both being trained to become the next L. If anything happened to L, I would succeed him. If anything happened to me, B would take my place. Ever since B moved in, we were to keep our identities hidden. And so everyone called me "A."

B was a creepy person, as I would describe. He looked so much like L that it was scary, he would eat a whole jar of strawberry jam all by himself, and something tells me that he's a sadist. The color of his eyes sometimes changed into a dark shade of red. He even sat like L and had the same habits as L. He never really talked to L that much and they weren't close. B was probably just a wannabe. But the truth was...we both wanted to surpass L. It was everyone's goal in the new Wammy's House.

•••••••••••••••••••••

Succeeding L was just too much for me. I thought about my decision for a long time, and I knew it was for the best. I had to do it. I felt the rope around my neck. Surely, that was enough to kill me. I was standing on a tall, wooden stool in the middle of the room. The door was opened just a crack, so somebody could find me after I died. I was about to kick the stool when someone walked in.

"Such a shame, Aroll Jameson. You would have been a great L someday." It was B.

"How did you know my real name?" I never told anyone else my name, besides L.

"But your time hasn't come yet." said B while his eyes turned red.

I knew it. B was just some kind of lunatic. But the red eyes, they meant something more. Could B actually foresee death? I thought about his words for a while, slowly taking my head out of the noose. "Maybe I still have something to live for." I said, now hesitant about my suicide. I could still feel the rope, I still didn't take it off. I could see B staring at the top of my head. Creepy. I decided that I was going to keep on living, but I heard someone's voice say "Now, your time has come." and I felt someone push me. B was the only other person in the room. The stool was on the ground and it looked like it had been kicked over. I struggled for air as I was hanging. Why even bother? I knew that I was going to die.

"Backup, how could you?" I tried to choke out, but he was already walking out of the room, probably to tell someone about my death.

•••••••••••••

Watari received the tragic news from a text message on his phone. He didn't know how to tell L that his successor, his only friend was dead.

"L."

"Yes, Watari?" L asked while stacking sugar cubes.

"I have terrible news..."


	4. Chapter 4: Hello Angel

Hi. It's me again. The one who got killed in the last chapter. Okay, so like I said, there's going to be a lot of confusion from the way I tell the story. This time, we're going back to when there were just the three of us. L, B, and A. It was around the time when the case of the Mad Winchester Bombings occurred. L solved the case when he was around sixteen, I was fifteen at that time. Since L solved the case, there was good news, and there was bad news, too.

Good news: L became one of the world's greatest detectives.

Bad news: L told me that he was going to move out in a year, and that meant I was going to be stuck with that freak, B.

Well, at least I wasn't going to be alone with him, the House took in more genius orphans, one of them was called X. When X came, she was with two other children named Y and Z. X was a twelve-year-old girl who I found creepier than B. She never stared at the top of my head and chuckled suspiciously like B did, but she loved torturing squirrels and always told everyone that her family was murdered and the police never caught the criminal. Worst of all, X always smiled. She always smiled this cute, sinister, yet innocent smile and she almost never changed her expression. I'll admit that X was cute, but she scared me more than B did. Although Y and Z seemed to be normal people, I still noticed that Wammy's House liked to adopt weirdos. There's L who is weird in his own special way, there's me with my anthropophobia and ichthyophobia, there's B and that's enough said, and last but not least, there's X. It was bad enough to have B around, now another psychopath has joined us and it scares me. X scares me.

Let's skip to the part when I woke up one morning in L's bed, next to him. He didn't seem to mind. X gave me nightmares. Let's skip to the part when B chased me in the backyard with a live fish. That scared the crap out of me, and I woke up next to L the following morning, again. Let's skip to the part when X jumped on me and pinned me down to the ground. There was no L to wake up next to anymore. He finally moved out and I was stuck with the scariest girl in the world.

X had her usual smile on, her amethyst eyes were staring at me. I was pinned down, speechless, and I trembled in fear. I was afraid of X, but I really liked her. She was creepy, yet she looked like a princess.

"I finally caught you, Angel!" she squealed. This was the first time I heard X talk. I could tell she wasn't English, since she had a bit of an accent.

"W-what did you just call me?"

X was just a sweet girl, there's nothing to be afraid of. She still creeped me out, though.

"Angel. Isn't that what 'A' stands for? Like how 'X' stands for X-treme." she said with her innocent smile.

Now, let's skip to the part when X started stalking me. Everyday, I woke up on L's bed from the nightmares B and X gave me. Sadly, there was no L. There was only X. She was the only person I talked to since L and Wammy were gone. I never talked to the others, and B only liked to chase me with live fish. Everyday, I would notice the presence of someone watching my every move, I would find a note in my room that says "Hello Angel," and X would sit next to me during meals to have a standard conversation with me. And every week, B would chase me with the same fish, and X would laugh at me.

Now, let's skip to my scariest moment with X. I was once again jumped on and pinned down to the ground.

"Do you want to know a secret, Angel?" said X.

"N-no thank you." I was just too creeped out.

"Alright. I will tell you two." she giggled.

I was speechless again.

"I killed my family." she whispered. She just gave me another reason to be scared.

"My other secret is," she said while she took out a knife "I love you."

I closed my eyes. I was going to die. I waited for her to stab me when I heard a familiar voice.

"Murder is against the law. You should know better as a candidate for L's successor."

Surprisingly, the person who saved my life was B. He probably meant "His time hasn't come yet." but I think he kept his special ability a secret. He held her back with his jam covered hands before she was able to stab me.

"B, y-you saved me. Thank you." I said.

B just continued eating his jam and walked away. X started to cry. Then, she ran away, and never came back.


	5. Chapter 5: I am Justice

"L! Help me!" A rushed into our room and slammed the door shut.

"Oh, you're here, A. Do you want me to share some cake with you?" I said, although I was almost finished with the slice of chocolate cake I was eating.

"B-but... Help!"

I've got to admit, A looked like he lost his mind. He was probably freaking out about one of his absurd fears again.

"A, for the last time, there's nothing scary about a little goldfish."

"It's not that! There's someone after me!"

"Who?" I asked, still focused on what was left of my cake.

"Just hide! He's coming to our room!"

Sometimes, I found A's fear of strangers really annoying. A was hiding under his bed, he really did look like he lost his mind.

"A, you're too old to hide under the bed and cry like a baby. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Just then, the door opened.

"I'm sorry. I forgot to knock. Have you seen Aroll go by? I'm pretty sure he went this way." said the child who opened the door.

"A, I think he's looking for you." I said with a mouthful of cake.

"Go away!" yelled A.

"Aroll, I know that you're hiding under the bed." said the other kid.

For some reason, he looked very familiar. I saw him somewhere before, but I couldn't remember.

"Go away! I already got away from you and now you came back!" A kept screaming. He probably escaped from a mental institution or something.

"But you must come back." the other kid held out his hand to A.

The two of them caught my curiosity and I became interested in A's past.

"A, who is he?" I asked in the middle of their argument, which mostly consisted of A screaming "Go away!"

"Oh, that's right," said the other kid "I never introduced myself. I was told not to tell anyone my name, so call me Number Seven."

"Number Seven? What a ridiculous alias! You just made that up on the spot!" A laughed.

"Yes, I did. My superiors and I have been looking for you for a long time, Aroll. Just come back already." said Number Seven.

"You're calling them your superiors now? Open your eyes! You've been living a lie! And by 'a long time' you mean a few days, right?" A said, then he laughed. Probability that A is insane: 0.5%, and when I say that, I mean a lot more than 0.5%.

"How do you two know each other, anyway?" I asked as I leaned closer to them.

"That information is classified." grinned Number Seven.

A hit him behind his head and laughed.

"'Classified?' 'Number Seven?' 'Superiors?' Why are you acting like you belong to some kind of secret organization?"

"Careful, Big Brother. You know well enough about how dangerous I am." Number Seven sounded serious.

"You may be tougher, but I'm more violent." A taunted while he grabbed Number Seven by the wrists and kneed him in the gut.

"That doesn't mean you're skilled." Number Seven escaped from A's grip and threw punches at him.

"That's enough." I said in monotone as I broke up the fight. One of my hands held A's wrist in a tight grasp, the other was holding Number Seven's foot which would have hit A in the face.

"I will not allow any kind of violence in this room. From now on, I am justice." I declared.

"Justice. I find you interesting. What is your name?" said Number Seven.

"Lawliet." I never introduced myself using my last name, but I had a feeling that I needed to at that moment.

"Have we met before? I think I know you."

"That explains a lot." Now, I think I remember.

Author's Note: Hey! This is Killjoy Whatsername and I think you all know how a lot of fanfiction contradicts the original story. I try my best not to do that and if I slip up, I find a way to fix it. I'm sorry about chapter 1, L was supposed to be 8 when Watari found him but I said he was 7, so I fixed that. I also forgot to mention the Mad Winchester Bombings, so I did in the previous chapter. I know L said that he lived in England for 5 years but I made it longer than that... So let's just say that L needs to lie so he can protect his identity.


	6. Chapter 6: Who is Number Seven?

The reason why I won't describe the setting in full detail is because this memory was from long ago, before I met L. All I could remember was that I was about five or six years old, I lived in an orphanage in England, it wasn't the Wammy's House, and that day was the day I got adopted by a family of lunatics. Not the potential-serial-killer-type like B, nor the creepy-homicidal-stalker-type like X. Let me tell you about my background.

My name is Aroll Jameson, alias: A. I never bothered changing my last name because the psychopaths who adopted me never considered me as family. I died when I was seventeen, I met L at age seven, and moved in with my previous foster family when I was five. I'm afraid of society and fish. And to be honest, I'm a child prodigy, a born genius, even smarter than L. The reason why I didn't become the world's top detective is because I just didn't fit the job, I wasn't interested either. My foster family had a similar purpose to that of the "new" Wammy's House. They adopted me after they found out that I was a genius. Since I have a grudge against them, I won't even dare to mention their names. I can talk about only one person from that "family."

As I said, I won't dare to mention his name, but he once introduced himself as "Number Seven." I know, it's a dumb fake name. So, let's call him "S" from now on. No, "S" doesn't stand for "Seven," it stands for "Stupid." But I'll admit, I don't hate S as much as I hate the rest of them.

Now you may ask me "A, why are you always talking about yourself and a bunch of other random people when this is supposed to be about L?"

I'll just answer "Well, if I didn't talk about myself and a bunch of other random people, S in particular, then you won't understand L's story." So basically, I'm just filling in whatever it is that L missed.

Anyway, about S, he is my self-proclaimed "younger brother" although he is only a month younger than I am. He was even adopted before me. S said that he always wanted a big brother, then I, a one-month-older-than-he-is-male-child, came along and the whole "Aroll is my big brother" thing started. But S isn't what's important here, it's his "superiors."

I'll refer to his superiors as "they" or "them." They traveled around the world in search of young geniuses like me for who knows what reason. But since I don't feel like going on full detail, I'll get straight to the point. Remember how S looked familiar to L and vice-versa? I don't know anything about their past, so go ahead and ask L yourself. But if my theory is correct, that means those two are related by blood.

How did I come up with that? Easy. S remembered L when he said his last name. Also, both of them look like they're part Japanese and part Russian, which they are. I can confirm that my theory is correct since I'm dead and I've been talking to L here in the afterlife. You wish you were me.

Anyway, I'm in a really lazy mood today and those of you who don't feel like listening to me and would rather listen to L, then good news, this is the last time I'm narrating for you. So here's a little spoiler: S and L are cousins! Want to know more? Go ask L yourself. A is signing out!

(Author's Note: This is the last chapter in A's POV. Admit it, he was a bad narrator anyway. Like I said before, if I do anything that contradicts the original story, which I just did, I'll come up with a way to fix it.)


End file.
